Tiny Texas town where the tap water runs brown and is filled with dangerous bacteria

Nov 02, 2024

By Samantha Rutt For Dailymail.Com 15:02 01 Nov 2024, updated 16:15 01 Nov 2024

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Brown-colored water and notices of toxic bacteria in the water supply have left residents of a small Texas town gravely concerned for their health.

Dozens of homes in Floresville, outside San Antonio, have been dealing for nearly two years with their drinking and bath water running brown, smelling of chlorine and recently testing positive for dangerous E.coli.

The presence of E.coli in the water was discovered in September, according to notice sent from the company that owns the well supplying water to residents.

'Fecal indicators are microbes whose presence indicates that the water may be contaminated with human or animal waste,' the notice reads. 'These bacteria can make you sick and are a particular concern for infants, young children and people with weakened immune systems.'

Worried for her and her children's health, Floresville resident Brandi Knighton called the well's owner, Central States Water Authority (CSWA), looking for clarity as their only water source was tainted with the harmful bacteria.

'I call the company, and I ask them, 'What is going on? Do I boil my water? Is this safe for them to drink? And nobody can answer me. Even in speaking to the supervisor, she couldn't tell me if my water was safe for consumption for my six children,' Knighton told KSAT News.

Knighton and her husband, Jason, have installed a whole-house filtration system as a more cost-effective solution, rather than constantly buying bottled water as other have been forced to do.

'Everybody in this neighborhood is having to buy bottled water. So who is paying for this?' one concerned resident, Carrie Wilcoxson, said.

Other residents are having to run their sink and tub faucets for several minutes to flush out the discoloration.

Even with the filtration system, Jason says he needs to replace the filters monthly, if not more frequently.

'These filters should last at least six months and up to a year, but we are changing our filters now at least once a month,' he said.

'I feel disgusted. If I didn't have this system, my water would look worse than that. When my kids are bathing or when we’re showering, what we're drinking, what we're cooking with. How do you feel clean with that? That's the water going into your house,' Jason added.

Other residents have expressed concern over the strong odor of chlorine - which is often used in trace amounts during the water purification process to kill harmful bacteria.

'I'm the first house off the well. It's so strong that you cannot breathe it, let alone drink it. I have asthma, and it's just too much,' Wilcoxson said.

She added that there are no notices to boil the water when the discoloration appears.

'The water company is saying, "It may seem unpleasant, but it's safe to drink." I don't care what they're saying. This water is not safe to drink. That sediment is rusting our hot water heaters, and it's galvanizing to other metals. So how can it be safe for our stomachs?' Wilcoxson said.

The neighbors created a Facebook group to update one another on the situation.

'Four days ago we took a poll of whose water smelled like strong chlorine. It shows 16 people, which is about 70 percent of the neighborhood,' Wilcoxson said.

Residents' bills are also piling up as a result.

'CSWR bought the well in 2020. Back in 2021, we started to see brown water and highly chlorinated water frequently. And yet, in 2022, the water company CSDR applied to increase their rates,' Wilcoxson explained.

'Our bill went up. And so you think maybe the quality of your water is going to go up or add filtration, and it hasn't. So our bills gone up, but our water has gotten worse,' Knighton added.

CSWR-Texas told KSAT News this week that it would 'assess potential solutions such as installing automatic flushers, which would reduce the need for residents to manually flush their lines at their own expense.'

The company added that its team was on site to test and review the systems weekly, further stating that 'all disinfection equipment at the water system is fully operational and running effectively.'

The statement failed to address a well-filtration system resident's water-bottle expenses.

Also this week, the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality confirmed that it is conducting an investigation into the complaints it has received from residents.

Wilcoxson has also filed a case with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office and has been in contact with State Senator Judith Zaffrini, who she said is helping with possible long-term solutions.

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